]]>Paris Hilton was observed using the bike lane on Santa Monica Boulevard yesterday and the paparazzi were there to capture the action. There was just one problem: She wasn’t riding a bike.

Drat. Apparently Paris sees bike lanes as a cool alternative to driving her SUV in the actual lanes of car traffic because, you know, other drivers are so slow, and SUVs are so dang big.

Now we know via Cyclelicio.us that Paris Hilton actually has a bike and presumably knows how to ride it. So there’s an opportunity here.

Our fantasy for this aging Hollywood starlet would be for the judge to sentence her to riding Santa Monica on a bike for a day, paparazzi in tow, sort of like that “Curb Your Enthusiasm” episode where Larry David had to wear a sign around his neck after stealing a fork from a restaurant.

Now there would be some publicity Paris could contribute to the greater good of society, and the bike culture as well.